It’s time to chime in with some cloth diaper advice. Every Monday, I take a user-submitted question, and ask you to help!
Questions don’t have to be cloth diaper related, just email maria at change-diapers.com with “Mailbox Mondays” in the subject, or fill out my contact form for readers, which you will always be able to find on my Contact Page.
Amy says:
OK I have a serious question for Mailbox Monday. For those of you who line dry, do you line dry inserts and shells? How long does it take to line dry an insert? Do you throw them in the dryer afterwards for a lil bit to make sure the inside is dry? I’m installing a clothesline soon I hope. Right now I dry my shells on a rack inside and the inserts in the dryer, but they take FOREVER in the dryer and my fitteds have been shrinking, so I am going to try line drying everything I think. See, I used to live in a community where utilities were part of the rent, so I never paid much attention at all. Now that it’s coming out of my own pocketbook I am looking for ways to save #tightwadlife
I have had an HE washer for about 3 1/2 years now, and I took for granted how dry the spin cycle got my diapers, until I washed in my mother-in-law’s machine! I typically line dry my shells (inside mostly) and toss the inserts in the dryer. 40 minutes on medium gets most of them dry, though really thick prefolds need a few extra minutes.
I have sunned my inserts on occasion, but I don’t have a very large outside clothesline right now (we are going to try to add a hook to another tree so I can stretch it out further!) They have dried OK in full sun, but I imagine they would take quite a bit of time to dry on a rack inside. Even my flat diapers took a long time to dry inside!
Do you line dry your diapers? How about the inserts? How long do they take to dry?
Maria wants to live in a world where cloth diapers are the norm and moms can make parenting choices without judgement. When she’s not chasing her 18, 14 and 11-year old kids around, you might find her checking out the latest gadgets, organizing something (again) or exercising in the fresh air. 
I line dry everything for 3 seasons. I put my shells on a rack inside and they dry overnight and inserts and prefolds dry by the end of the day on my outside line during the summer. During the winter I just put the inserts and prefolds in the dryer but I still line dry my shells inside. The one drawback to line drying is that the prefolds don’t get soft and fluffy. My daughter doesn’t seem to mind. I have put diapers out on the line until they were almost dry and then put them in the drier for an additional 10 minutes just to get them soft.
I line dry everything. Shells like Fuzzibunz, Grovia, or other PUL covers dry very fast. Itti Bitti shells take a bit. MF or Minky inserts also dry almost instantly but Hemp can take 48 hrs.. Also certain AIO. BG Elemental takes the longest. Grovia AIO is a bit faster. Prefolds are not too bad either. During summer time I dry outside and it takes 10 hrs. approx. I hang them in the morning, go to work, and they are dry when I get back in the evening. Even sloomb fitteds. During winter time I put the rack close to the heating. The worst times are, if there is no heating on, but it’s raining and humid outside. But line drying works for us. We have a stash of about 40 diaper changes and we manage well when washing every other day.
Hello, I cloth diapered both of my girls. My husband had set up a simple rope and pulley system for line drying items. Heh, before the line, I used our hammock or the patio table. (o; I found that the sun does a great job – Before the line, I would go out and flip the diapers and inserts to let the sun get both sides.
You are still saving money if you need to stick them in the dryer for a short time. Finally, I have wicked allergies so in retrospect, the outdoor drying line was probably a good idea on days when pollen wasnt high.
Good luck,
Emily